I think Obama has made a difficult decision, but overall probably the right one. It's a complex case. I don't think Chelsea Manning was in a fit mental state when she did what she did. I think it also highlighted some fairly (to my mind) bizarre weakness in the security of data, that it was possible for her to do it at all. In the article it mentions Chelsea had emailed a picture of herself in a wig to her supervisor. Was she really allowed to have continued access to classified information after that?
I never realised the Obama administration had made so many of these types of prosecutions. To my mind you want to have a system in place that makes it very difficult to happen to begin with. Locking someone up afterwards is nowhere near as good as prevention.
I think there does need to be a credible whistle blowers process, that allows anyone who has a "crisis of conscience" or similar objection to pursue. I'm not sure that exists in an effective way. Without that I think you're always likely to have individuals who leak information illegally. If there is a credible legal way for them to raise their concerns, I think there'd be far less sympathy for anyone who just breaks the law.
